Detroit in pictures

Susan · Post by **Susan** » Sun Jan 02, 2011 5:06 am

This is the sad state of affairs in this once proud city graphically illustrated

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/ ... hy-detroit

I personally found it shocking but I realise that a certain amount of cherry picking must have gone on. What do all you Michigan girls think?

Carol Ann · Post by **Carol Ann** » Sun Jan 02, 2011 7:00 am

A very sad state of afair when such beauty is let to rot

SilverLady(SO) · Post by **SilverLady(SO)** » Sun Jan 02, 2011 9:46 pm

Hi, Susan, and thank you for sharing that link.

Although I was born in Detroit, I was raised in a very large city immediately north of there. I lived and worked in the North Metro Detroit area for the majority of my life, and most of my immediate family still live and work there.

I am not at all surprised to see the decay of the once-great city. One must realize that those photos were indeed 'cherry picked' to show the 'worst decay' possible of places that were long ago the cream of the crop, places where the 'elite' and "who's-who" of the city/state/country once went to 'see and be seen'.

Detroit has been - and still is - controlled not only by the unions and liberals, but also the mafia. Former Mayor Coleman Young was firmly controlled by them, and so are his predecessors. The city is rife with greed and corruption. One of the past Mayors is a convicted felon and is currently in prison.

Statistics and census records indicate that Detroit's residents have been mostly black, Chaldean and Muslim since at least the early 1980's. There are generations upon generations who live on welfare.

No, I am not at all surprised at the decay of Detroit. The once-proud 'Motown'. The 'Motor City' Capital of the World.

Will the last person to leave Detroit please turn off the light?

- SL

Carly · Post by **Carly** » Mon Jan 03, 2011 7:44 am

Susan,
There are still plenty of cultural venues in Detroit worth visiting. I aggree with SL on many things but the new administration seems to be trying and I'll be around here to keep the a light burning.
Carly

Susan · Post by **Susan** » Mon Jan 03, 2011 8:01 am

Silver Lady and Carly

Thank you for your replies. I so understand as my home town of Liverpool went into a heavy decline in the 1960's and 70's. Its been a long hard road to get to where we are now, European Capital Of Culture in 2008 did us no harm what so ever and judging by the number of hotels being built and the foreign accents I hear on the streets we are doing much better now.

Liverpool has historical and close links to the USA, especially New York, 13 million people passed through here on the way to Ellis Island between 1830 and 1930. 800 000 dough boys passed through the opposite way on the way to fight in WWI. The CSS Alabama was built here in 1862.

If we can pull ourselves up I am sure Detroit and places like it can. One thing we have never been short of here is imagination. I hope I can look forward to showing some of you what a great city this is in the future. You will be certain of a warm welcome from my fellow Scousers which is what we Liverpudlians call ourselves. We have the oldest Chinese community in Europe here and they are so completely integrated into Liverpool life that if they all left I know we would notice a big hole in the city.

I hope I have not bored you with this post.

SilverLady(SO) · Post by **SilverLady(SO)** » Mon Jan 03, 2011 10:04 am

Hi, Carly -

Yes, there are some great cultural venues worth seeing in and around Detroit - the Science Musueum; Art Museum; Fisher Theatre; Ford Theater; the RenCen (Renaissance Center); Joe Louis Arena; Cobo Hall; Comerica Park (new home of the Detroit Tigers); the City of Hamtramck (aka "Pole Town" in honor of their predominately Polish residents) and their bakeries, but one must drive through Detroit to get to (as Hamtramck is completely surrounded by Detroit, a city within a city); and so on - but getting to them can be risky in and of itself . . . travelling through some unsafe areas, etc.

One place I always enjoyed was Greek Town for their wonderful restaurants and shops (and now their casinos), a relatively "safe" area to visit - it should be, it's controlled by the mafia - but getting to there (in the heart of Detroit) is not a trip for the faint-hearted.

Susan wrote:If we can pull ourselves up I am sure Detroit and places like it can.

There are way too many residents of Detroit (as well as Wayne County as a whole) who want a hand-out, not a hand-up. It's so easy to continue living on welfare, food stamps, ADC (Aid for Dependent Children) and the like, and that's why there are families who, for generation upon generation, live on those "assistance programs". They know how to work the system, and the selling of drugs helps to supplement income for some of them. Detroit used to be called "The Murder Capital" of the country - I think it now rates as #2, I forget which city is now #1 - but the City of Detroit and Wayne County still have an exceedingly high rate of crime, drugs, and prostitution. No, I'm not at all surprised at the decay of the city.

The city's new administration can try all they want, I applaud their desire to turn the city around and I wish them the best of luck. I reiterate, though, that Detroit is rife with greed and corruption; it's been going on for more than 40 years (that I can personally recall), and it just gets worse as time goes on. It started - and continues today - with all the unions (and 'the family' aka the syndicate/mafia) who have a firm hold on the city, county, and state and it's politicians. Loosen their grip and you'll start to see an improvement in the city, as well as the state as a whole.

Otherwise, call it a day and remember Detroit as the great city it once was, a place where it is now good to be 'from'.

- SL

Paula G · Post by **Paula G** » Mon Jan 03, 2011 1:31 pm

Susan mentioned Liverpool being the European CIty of Culture, having always lived in the South East of England I had an image of Liverpool as poor, depressed and a bit dangerous. Then in January 2008 I played at the Symphony Hall at the begining of thier year as City of Culture, I was impressed with some of what I saw, but there was still a long way to go. Over the winter of 2009/2010 I played in Liverpool again, this time in the Anglican Cathedral (it's BIG) and the changes were noticible. As an outsider sometimes you can see progress better than residents, Liverpool was very much alive and vital. If it can happen here it can happen anywere, where there is the will, I just hope and pray that the current finacial cuts don't undo all the good work of the last decade or so.

Anita · Post by **Anita** » Mon Jan 03, 2011 3:27 pm

Hi Susan--
I appreciated you posting the pictures as well, although I couldn't finish them--the point was made. I have never been to Detroit, but I have sentimental attachments to it through my friends that did live in or around it, in Flint and Ann Arbor.

It was always a focal point for Hard rock, and we used to see Detroit and/or Michigan bands in Cincinnati all the time. I also read a lot of Elmore Leonard crime novels, and Detroit was the setting for many of them.

Oakland has some of the same problems as Detroit, particularly the crime and the murder rate. The downtown resists any renovation, and has for years. But Detroit is in a class by itself, for decayed American cities. I don't know what it will take for it to begin to revive itself.

Carolynn · Post by **Carolynn** » Mon Jan 03, 2011 7:59 pm

In Oklahoma and Kansas, if we are lucky urban renewal is kickstarted by a large tornado. Which leads to rebuilding grants, and cheaper property values and taxes for awhile, and new people move in, and new business are started.

Sounds like Detroit needs a killing tornado about 5 miles wide and as long as the largest diameter of the city. We usually just get chipped away at, often no deaths. The one last spring made new roofs and new houses, new power distribution systems (replacing the substation near my house cured a multiplicity of power blinks), made necessary, a new bridge, and two new schools (empty at the time, fortunately).

Missed both the casino by the length of a football field, which was lucky as no one would leave even though the warning was passed. Guess gambling can carry over to all facets, even one's life in the face of disaster.